


For Posterity

by mydeira, Sadbhyl



Series: Responsible Adults (aka, The Menageaverse) [86]
Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-11
Updated: 2013-04-11
Packaged: 2017-12-08 04:55:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,867
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/757293
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mydeira/pseuds/mydeira, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sadbhyl/pseuds/Sadbhyl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Andrew takes on the OT3, gets threatened, and gets some insight.</p>
            </blockquote>





	For Posterity

**Author's Note:**

> Originally published October 6, 2005
> 
> Spoilers through “Storyteller”. Andrew on the brain is a frightening thing. The boy can really run away with you. Thank you to [](http://sadbhyl.livejournal.com/profile)[](http://sadbhyl.livejournal.com/)**sadbhyl** for helping me rein him in.

Andrew huddled down in the coat closet, having shoved jackets and boots as far out of his way as was possible in the small, cramped space. The bathroom had been the ideal place for doing his voiceovers, excellent acoustics and good lighting. But since he had been barred from there on pain of death, he’d had to relocate. Every time he went to use the facilities, someone always happened to be around to make sure the camera wasn’t with him.

But all artists had their obstacles to overcome. At least the camera came with a light.

“Now, gentle viewer, we will explore one of the more tragic tales in the bustling mecca that is Sixteen-Thirty Revello Drive. It is a story of great love and even greater betrayal between three people and how the power of love can’t long endure against the love of power.” Andrew paused, as much for dramatic effect as to find the right words to begin his tale.

“It was a dark winter night, three years ago, when Joyce Summers found herself forced to roam the perilous streets of Sunnydale long after it is wise to do so. Some days you can press your luck and find that it holds true. Unfortunately for our heroine, her luck did not hold.

“Just as the first hideous demon poised to strike, more than half of the pack were razed to the ground by a single burst of holocaustial fire. Before the lady could take advantage of this new development, a man jumped in front of her and lay waste to the remaining creatures with sharp, deadly blows with a rebar taken from the surrounding detritus.

“When all the demons lay dead, Joyce moved to thank her rescuer and was shocked to see that it was none other than Rupert Giles, former Watcher of her Slayer daughter. But the surprises didn’t end there, as from the shadows stepped Giles’ old friend and often nemesis, Ethan Rayne, chaos sorcerer beyond compare.

“‘How can I ever thank you?’ the lady inquired of her heroes.

“‘All in a days work,’ said the former Watcher.

“And the mage smiled in his devil-may-care way. ‘It is we who should be thanking you, my dear. Before that spot of fun, it was looking to be quite a dull evening indeed.’

“As they say in the movies, it was the beginning of a beautiful relationship, and while the years that followed weren’t all hearts and flowers, they endured and remained true to each other, setting an example for all. And then, a darkness began to gather ‘neath the unhallowed ground of this cursed town. This darkness was the predecessor to Evil itself and thus is rightly named The First. The First made an offer that the chaos mage couldn’t refuse and he turned his back on everyone who mattered because the draw of limitless power was too great to resist.

“Now the details of the betrayal are somewhat of a mystery to all but those who were present at the time. But it is rumored that—”

He was interrupted by a blinding light as the door was pulled open, followed by a high-pitched shriek.

Recovering herself, Dawn gave him the patented Summers Glare of Death. “Out of the closet now, Andrew.”

“Come on!” he whined, turning off the camera. No need for this to be caught on tape, after all. “There’s nowhere else I can go!”

“Andrew.”

“Fine,” he sighed, getting up and stumbling out into the hall.

She steadied him as he came out. “You just need to find somewhere out of the way,” she said, her tone less harsh.

“I thought the closet was out of the way.”

Dawn rolled her eyes. “Ok, out of the way that won’t scare the crap out of someone if they find you there.”

“I’ll try, but I’m running out of places to go.”

“It is a little crowded around here now, isn’t it?” she said sympathetically. “So who’s the latest victim of your documentary?”

Oh! This could be a good thing for him. Dawn was there when Ethan betrayed them. Maybe she would fill in the blanks for him. He switched his camera on and quickly pointed it at Dawn.

“You were there that day, weren’t you? What happened?”

“What day? Where?” She looked at like he was weird, a half-smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. “There are a lot of days and places to choose from.”

“The Day. The one where Ethan revealed that he was the First’s henchman.”

The half-smile was gone in an instant, her eyes darkening with an odd mixture of anger and confusion. Finally, she spoke uncertainly. “I-I don’t remember. That day is, um, pretty much one big blur.”

“How can you not remember? It was a pretty big day, what with Buffy disappearing, that demon thing attacking, and then Ethan going evil,” he prompted.

Andrew could almost see her flipping through the memories in her mind.

“I’m sorry, Andrew.” She shook her head. “I can’t help you. Like I said, it’s just a big blur. I’ve gotta go. Training.”

Then abruptly, she left him. Maybe he had been imagining it, but she looked pale as she ran off.

He was almost certain she had been there that day with the others. Ethan was pretty powerful; he could have cast a memory spell of some sort on all the witnesses. Andrew needed to track down someone else. Maybe Xander? Xander had been at the scene, and he was usually willing to talk to Andrew.

Switching off his camera again, Andrew went in search of Xander.

But as luck would have it, Xander found him. Though, seeing the look on Xander’s face, Andrew decided that maybe it wasn’t such a lucky thing after all.

Correction, he knew it wasn’t a lucky thing the moment Xander grabbed his collar and slammed him against the wall. His free hand snatched the camera away from Andrew.

“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t smash this?” He was shaking, as if holding himself back. He jolted Andrew against the wall when he didn’t get a reply. “For that matter, give me one good reason why I shouldn’t smash you?”

“I—Xander . . . What, what did I do?” he squeaked. He had never seen Xander angry before, and it was a good thing, too. It was one of the scariest things he had ever seen. This wasn’t the same man who got all Andrew’s comic references and would crack jokes when things got too serious. There was no trace of that Xander in the man before him.

“You need to learn to keep your nose out of things, Andrew,” Xander said, deathly quiet. “There are some things that don’t need to be dredged up and preserved for posterity.”

“One day people will be gl—”

Xander cut him off, slamming him against the wall again. “Rayne is a remorseless bastard who takes what he wants and doesn’t give a damn about anyone but himself. And that is all you need to know.”

And just as suddenly, Xander released Andrew and stormed out, taking the camera with him.

It wasn’t until that evening that Andrew learned why it was that Xander was so furious with him. Usually, his video taping only provoked annoyance. But Xander hadn’t been the only one upset. He kept getting death glares from the others all afternoon. But no one would tell him why they were so mad.

He was sitting alone in the backyard, trying to figure this out, when Tara joined him.

“Mind if I sit out here with you?” she asked. “It’s a little tense in there right now.”

“Yeah, my fault, I guess,” he grumped. “But I don’t know why.”

She smiled sympathetically. “Ethan’s . . . betrayal is a touchy subject for a lot of reasons.”

“I can tell.”

“That doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be talked about. You think they would have learned that by now,” Tara sighed.

“Will you tell me what happened?” he asked hesitantly.

She was quiet for a moment, then nodded. “I’ll tell you what I saw that day, but I don’t think any of us knows for sure what went on before we got up there. Not even Dawn.”

Suddenly, things started to make sense. “Ethan did something to Dawn that day.”

“Yeah, he . . .” Tara stopped, seeming to struggle with her words. Finally, she continued. “It looked like he was drawing energy from her and—that’s not a good thing to do, take something like that when it isn’t freely given. And it’s a pretty big deal when it is done with consent.”

“And she doesn’t remember.”

“Not really. She knows something happened, but not what. And she isn’t asking for details, either. Which is probably for the best.” Tara studied the sky for a moment before talking again. “She was pretty out of it when we found them. Maybe from the draining, maybe from something he did to her. The only person who knows for certain what happened that day is Ethan himself.”

Andrew sat there, trying to take everything Tara was saying in. But something struck him as odd about her behavior. “You don’t seem as angry as the rest of them.”

“Oh, I’m angry,” there was a flash of something like steel in her voice. It was gone just as quickly. “But I’ve learned not to pass judgment until I have all the facts. Sometimes things are exactly like they seem, but sometimes they’re not. And after all Ethan did to help Willow last year, I . . . I’m having trouble reconciling the man I thought I knew with the man he seems to be.”

He understood that all too well.

“He could have been playing you all from the very beginning,” he pointed out.

“I can’t believe that,” Tara said vehemently. “I won’t. Regardless of what he’s done or will do now that he’s with the First. It . . . No, it wasn’t all an act. Of that much I’m certain.”

They sat quietly for awhile.

“Thank you, Tara. You didn’t have to talk to me,” Andrew said.

“I think I did, for my sake as much as yours,” she corrected him.

“Thanks just the same.”

“You’re welcome.” She smiled. “I think I can get your camera back for you. If you promise me one thing.”

“To stop asking questions?”

“No, don’t ever stop doing that. People may not like it, but it keeps them from bottling everything up. You just need to go about it the right way. Try to pay attention to people a bit more and don’t push too much.”

“I’ll try.” He had always sucked at reading people, but it couldn’t hurt to try at least. No, no try. Do. “I will,” he said.

“While you haven’t always gone about it in the best way, I think you’re doing a good thing. People like to be remembered.”

With that she stood.

“Oh, one more thing,” she said, her voice a mixture of teasing and seriousness. “Stop calling me Willow’s paramour. Otherwise, I might get angry. And you really wouldn’t like me when I’m angry.”

Andrew grinned. Tara was alright in his book. Not every girl could pull that line off.  



End file.
